


A Scallop's Song

by DanEpacaris



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Christmas Special, Crack Fic, Described as "Trash, Fluff, Hermit Crab!Levi, I don't know why this exists but I'm glad it does, I wrote this as a Christmas present to some amazing friends, I'm sort of proud of this???, M/M, Merry Christmas, No Christmas themes in the actual fic though, Scallop!Eren, Something resembling surgery, but cute, honestly i don't know what this is, well written trash. That's the best kind of trash."
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 18:42:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17147045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanEpacaris/pseuds/DanEpacaris
Summary: Alone.Levi was alone.A young hermit crab leaves his colony to escape their shallow ways. He encounters true beauty in the form of a haunting song.Where is it coming from?"It's not the fic we want, but it's the fic we need" - Fluffyboots





	A Scallop's Song

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas!  
> This was written purely for my friends but if anyone else decides to click on this then enjoy being baffled by this strange AU!  
> I genuinely did research for this.  
> Levi is an Elegant Hermit, otherwise known as Calcinus Elegans.  
> Eren is an Atlantic Sea Scallop, otherwise known as Placopecten Magellanicus.
> 
> I apologise for this as a whole.

Levi was a simple hermit crab. He never felt the need to adorn his shell with the sparkly trinkets that others did. Truthfully, he didn’t see the appeal. 

He liked to stay away from his garish brethren, preferring to roam the soft sea-bed alone, wondering if he would ever find meaning. His vacuous kin filled their minds with glitzy objects and careless behaviour, but Levi wanted something more. His neighbours had teased him for being so plain when he was a young zoea, thinking him prudish and dull. In his opinion, the sapphire blue knuckles of his legs were bright enough without trivial jewellery plastered upon his shell. He had decided that there was no use in trying to reason with the air-heads that were supposedly the same species as him. 

Peace had been found in a collection of rocks that formed a small cave. It was far from the reef that he was raised on, but Levi didn’t care in the slightest. He had no desire to associate himself with the idiots that he had been brought up with. He spent his days cleaning the reef that surrounded his dwelling, the only habit that he had in common with the rest of his species. 

It wasn’t an exciting life, but it was comfortable enough. Levi’s had a small collection of shells which were in pristine condition. He took great care to avoid chipping the cream calcium of his armour, remembering the awful state that his kin’s shells would be in after their garish adornments had been embedded into the surface of their garbs. He had once witnessed a member of his colony’s shell crack under the weight of the pointless bits of rubbish that had been pressed into it. His reef was rich in algae and seaweed, and there was a warm current nearby that kept the area at the perfect temperature. 

He had the perfect surroundings, and no annoying simpletons to hound him for his desolate appearance. It should have been paradise. There was just one problem. 

Levi was lonely. 

He’d never admit it to anybody, not that there was anyone around to admit it to. Hermit crabs were social creatures, and being isolated had begun to take its toll on the young crustacean. 

It seemed that Levi had finally been driven to insanity when he heard a soft, sorrowful song ring out through the empty expanse of saltwater and reef. It continued for days, yet no matter how frantically Levi scuttled around to find its source, there was no trace of the pained vocalist. 

The gentle melody was simultaneously calming and grating. It was as if the singer was attempting to comfort themself with the sound, but the pain that they were experiencing was clearly transmitted. It was haunting but almost... beautiful. 

Levi had never experienced beauty. It made him feverish in his search for the root of it. He found himself wanting to give whatever aid he could to the creature, to protect it and make it feel comfortable. 

It was after what felt like years of searching that the Elegant Hermit found who had been calling out for help. He must have passed by the Scallop countless times, not realising that the rose shell contained a little siren. 

Deep turquoise eyes peeped out from the slightly ajar opening of the casing as Levi approached. The singing halted and the scallop watched him come closer, closing the gap that they were looking through to prevent being hurt by the nearing hermit crab. 

“Hello?” Levi hadn’t spoken to another being in an awfully long time, and had never exactly been a brilliant conversationalist. “Don’t be scared; I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to help.” He edged closer when he got no response. “I’m Levi. I live alone here. What’s your name?” 

The shell cracked open a tiny bit, just enough to be able to see Levi. “My name is Eren,” answered a soft, muffled voice. His pupils dilated a little as he studied the hermit crab, impressed by the brightness of the electric blue which contrasted perfectly with his dark body and cream shell. 

“Are you hurt, Eren?” the crab enquired. “I’ve been hearing your song for a while now.” He bobbed his head up and down as he chose his words carefully, not wanting to scare away the creature before him. “It sounds as though you’re in pain.” 

Eren allowed his protective casing to fall further open. It seemed that he had decided that Levi posed no threat to him. “I’m sorry if I irritated you,” he replied, his voice echoing and his pink shell darkening, almost as if he was blushing. 

Levi raised a claw immediately in defense. “No, no,” he began, but calmed himself when he realised that his outburst had spooked Eren into jamming his shell shut. “No,” he reiterated firmly. “Your voice is extremely beautiful.” Levi still wasn’t used to that word. He supposed that it wouldn’t hold the power and meaning to Eren as it did to him, but he didn’t know any other way to express what he thought. 

The scallop peeked out at Levi again. “You really think so?” 

“Absolutely,” the crab settled down on the sand next to Eren. “How could anybody disagree?” 

“I had to leave my kin because I was different. They all sing with clicking and popping sounds, and I do this wailing,” Eren slumped dejectedly. “They said that I didn’t belong with them, that there was something wrong with me. I was never allowed to sing.” 

Levi twitched with anger. How could this perfect angel have been rejected by his own flesh and blood? 

“I couldn’t sing, but they allowed me to stay up until recently. They were right, there is something wrong with me.” Eren looked so sad that Levi felt his chest tighten impossibly. What kind of monsters would hurt this precious little scallop? How could they find a single fault in him? All Levi saw was perfection. Even in his misery, Eren was beautiful. Levi swore that he would give anything to make him happy. 

“I have a pain inside me. I don’t know what it is, but it hurts so much. I couldn’t help the singing. It was spilling out of me uncontrollably. I tried to stop it. I tried so hard!” Eren shook with sorrow. “My body betrayed me. I was thrown out of my home. I’m an outcast, and even now I can’t stop the singing.” Eren’s gemstone eyes bore into Levi’s and the hermit crab felt as though the delicate scallop was reaching into his very soul. “I’m so sorry for bothering you. I’ll leave your territory and find somewhere in which I can sing without disturbing anybody.” 

Levi was so lost in Eren’s eyes that it took him a few seconds to process what he had been told. “No,” he spluttered, mentally kicking himself for being completely useless in conversation. “Please don’t leave me.” 

The scallop seemed surprised by this. “You... You really want me to stay?” 

“I never belonged with my colony either. I wasn’t like them at all. They were obsessed with covering themselves in supposedly beautiful things. They weren’t beautiful at all, but you’re beautiful. Maybe I’m more like them than I thought, because you are absolutely gorgeous, and I want you next to me.” 

Eren was so quiet that Levi began to worry he had upset him. Did he say too much? He had no idea on the social norms of telling someone that they were beautiful. Would Eren leave him? Did he think that he was strange? 

“Thank you,” Eren said so softly that Levi almost missed it. The scallop was making tiny echoing hiccups as if he was crying. Levi felt awful, thinking that he hurt Eren. How could he have been so stupid? Eren suddenly opened his shell wide and tackled Levi into what could only be described as a hug. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” he repeated like a mantra. 

Levi felt warm for the first time in his life. It was as though with this simple touch a connection had been made between the two sea creatures’ hearts. He could feel Eren’s sorrow, his joy, but most worryingly, his pain. It was rapidly increasing, and the scallop began to sing. 

The sound was still beautiful, but it was awfully strained. Levi had no idea what to do. He couldn’t lose Eren. He was the only person who he had ever had care about him. He couldn’t lose him. 

He couldn’t. 

A sinking feeling washed over him as he realised that he couldn’t do anything to help, either. He could do nothing but watch as his new friend contorted in pain, his haunting wails striking fear into Levi’s soul. 

Something began to push through Eren’s side, his soft body expelling an object that looked like a small pebble. Levi could see that it had to come out. He elected to help it. 

“I’m really sorry, Eren. This might sting a little.” He didn’t think that the scallop could hear him. His words were more for his own peace of mind than practical reasons. Levi carefully brought his sharpest claw up to the site of the strange object and braced himself for what he was about to do. He sliced as cleanly as he could through the skin that was obstructing the sphere. To his relief, Eren didn’t seem to have been caused any extra pain by his actions. The object had been very close to the surface. 

With some light squeezing from Levi, the bauble exited its host and dropped to the sea bed. Eren fell alongside it, clearly exhausted. The hermit crab was quick to follow, checking the scallop’s state almost immediately. He was overcome with joy as he found that, despite the stress that his little friend had been under, he was relatively unharmed. The flaps of skin that had been damaged had folded together neatly, and looked as though they would heal quickly. 

“What was it?” Eren panted, his eyes drifting shut. 

On the sea bed was a glistening pink pearl. Levi clasped it in a claw and lifted it to show the tired scallop, nudging him to get him to open his eyes. Eren smiled as he saw the gem. 

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered. Levi shook his head as he tucked Eren back into his shell, placing the pearl safely in his own. 

“You’re beautiful.”

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas!!!  
> I absolutely adore the people that I wrote this for. Thank you for making me so happy. I look forward to spending 2019 talking to you about our two sons.  
> Love,  
> Dan


End file.
